Benjamin Mena

Need to hire? We can help! - Headhunter - Managing Partner

🎯 Having a tough time hiring for your Government Contracting Executive Team or GovCon AI teams?  There are way more openings than there are people to fill.  The top level talent your team needs are not even looking at your jobs ads. ** CLICK BELOW TO SEE MORE **

We understand how competitive the market is for top talent and how your career as a leader is impacted by the ability to attract and retain top talent.  

My name is Benjamin Mena, and for 15 years, I've built Data Science and Cyber Security teams for global Top Secret National Security programs.

Finding and attracting top-level people for our commercial sector is mission-critical. I know how right hire at the right time is vital for your team's growth and success.

SERVICES FOR CLIENTS AND CANIDATES 
💥 Executive Retained Search (C-Level, VP, Director)
💥 Direct Hire Search
💥 Employer/Candidate Value Proposition Development

Myself and my team are ready to help you 

🎯 To book a no-obligation, 15-minute Client Strategy or Candidate Career Call: https://calendly.com/benjaminmena
🎯 Email: Benjamin@selectsourcesolutions.com 
🎯 Phone: 703-297-8574

The Elite Recruiter Podcast Host

The Elite Recruiter Podcast is the number one podcast for recruiting professionals.

This is where the top recruiters share: How they got there. What kind of work did it take. Tips, Tools, and Tricks. The Mindset needed to get them to where they are. What they are doing with their success. Goals and visions for the future. So please join me on this journey as I interview some of the best in our industry

https://pod.co/the-elite-recruiter-podcast

Been in this game for 2 decades... 

Alot has changed...  But at the same time, the fundamentals have not.

Feel free to follow Benjamin Mena

I wonder how many recruiting companies have been started because of a bad manager.

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20 years ago.  I got hired as a recruiter...  What a WILD ride its been.  

Here was the comp plan!   What was yours when first started?

I had to join the trend…

Go to ChatGPT and use this prompt:

"Create a caricature of me and my job based on everything you know about me."

(I added my LinkedIn profile url for reference).

Totally copied Stephanie Holman, M.Ed 🦄on this trend! 

Add yours in the comments.

Most recruiting firms never break $10M.

Not because of the market.
Not because of candidates.
Not because of AI.

But because the leader becomes the bottleneck.

I’ve spent the last few years interviewing top billers, firm owners, and operators who’ve actually scaled past $10M.

And there’s a pattern no one wants to talk about:
• The firm relies on 1–2 rainmakers
• Sales “training” doesn’t change behavior
  Everything runs through the owner
• Growth feels chaotic instead of repeatable

In my latest podcast episode, we break down the 4-part framework elite recruiting firms use to scale without burning out or blowing up culture:

→ Strategy
→ Structure
→ Staff
→ Skills

This isn’t theory.
It’s what firms crossing $10M and $25M are actually doing differently.

If your firm feels stuck at $5–10M…
or you’re tired of being the hub for every decision…
This episode will hit uncomfortably close to home.

🎧 Listen here: [link in comments]
Honest question:

What do you think is the real reason most recruiting firms stall?

Thank you to Atlas - the Recruitment Platform for helping this episode with Shad Tidler come together! 

Also 30 Day BD Challenge kicks off Feb 9th... Hit me up for more details.

AI is quietly turning honest job seekers into liars.

Use AI in your job search.

But be very careful with tools that auto‑create a new resume and auto‑apply for you.

Last week, I had multiple conversations in a row with candidates who had no idea what certifications were listed on their own resumes.

The AI had invented credentials and experience that didn’t match their background at all, and they only found out when I asked them about it.

I’m not auto-rejecting people for using AI.  

I encourage it! 

But I do understand why some companies are starting to use tools to filter out obviously AI‑generated, auto‑applied resumes so they can focus on real applications. 

If you’re using AI:
 - Read every line before you send it
 - Delete anything you can’t explain in an interview
 - Make sure your resume still sounds like you

Have you already caught AI adding skills or certifications you don’t actually have to your resume?

Thanks for sharing this Shanique J. and Kevin Appiah for sharing this with me.

Co-Founder of Zamari AI | UGC Creator | Career & Hiring Insight Writer | Mental Wellness Advocate | Future of Work Voice

This is the state of hiring in 2026.

I just came across a job posting where, buried at the very bottom, the employer added a line instructing applicants to include specific random words (like “parrot handling” and “hippopotamus”) in their application.

Why?
To catch anyone using AI tools and automatically filter them out.

And honestly… that says everything.

Hiring has turned into a quiet arms race.
On one side, candidates using AI to get through hundreds of applications.
On the other, companies using AI to detect, flag, and discard them.

It’s no longer just about qualifications or experience.
It’s about whose AI is better at navigating the system.

The result?
Talented people getting lost in the noise, and a hiring process that feels more like a game of cat and mouse than an actual search for the right person.

I think one of the biggest debates EVERY recruiter has at least once in thier life.


For many recruiters.   

The debate happens many times across the career for some.  

Can’t I just do this on my own?
Should I quit and go solo?

It’s a philosophical question.
An economic question.
A self identity question. 

The question.  

Could I actually do it.   
Could I do it on my own?

But here is the thing. 

It’s NOT right for everyone. 

And not everyone should jump out on thier own. 

I know tons of recruiters that actually bill more and take home more money because they are working at a firm.  

But then there are others. 

Going solo is best for them. 

Have you ever had this debate?

Thanks to Atlas - the Recruitment Platform I went back and for with Mike Anderson.

If you want to check it out our deep conversation.  

Go it below and let me know your thoughts.

Get ready.... Mike Anderson is dropping tomorrow.

Round 2 with him.

He walked away from millions in billings.

On purpose.

Just a decision.

Mike Anderson was billing at a high level inside a big agency.

President’s Club.
Big accounts.
Brand name behind him.

And still…

He couldn’t shake the question:

“Could I do this on my own?”

Not for ego.

Not for Instagram.

But for control.
For time.
For identity.

Here’s the part most recruiters don’t talk about:

Going lone wolf isn’t about making more money.

It’s about finding out if your success is actually yours.

Or if it’s propped up by:
• The agency logo
• The delivery team
• The inbound leads
• The corporate infrastructure

That’s the uncomfortable question.

Because if you pull that away…

What’s left?

In this episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, we break down:
– The lie recruiters tell themselves before going solo
– How to know if your desk would survive without the agency
– The financial runway you actually need
– Why most people burn the ships too fast
– And when staying at your firm is actually the smarter move

This isn’t a hype episode.

It’s a reality check.

If you’ve ever quietly thought,
“I could build this myself…”

You need to listen to this one.
Part 1:
Burn the Ships: When Recruiters Should Go Lone Wolf (And When They Shouldn’t) 

Part 2 is dropping tomorrow.

Link in comments and thanks to Atlas - the Recruitment Platform for helping this episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast come together. 

And I’m genuinely curious…

Have you ever thought about going solo?

Who are all the best recruiters that help hire the best recruiters?

Your brain is being A/B tested every time you open LinkedIn/IG/TikTok/FB.

And if you’re not intentional, the algorithm is running your career more than you are.

We like to think we choose what we see.

But the reality: algorithms are quietly choosing what we read, who we follow, and what we believe about our industry, our company, and even ourselves.

They don’t optimize for truth or growth.

They optimize for “what keeps you scrolling” even if that’s outrage, doomscrolling, or low-value content that never makes you better at your career.

Here’s the good news:
We’ve never had more high-quality content available for free, world-class operators on podcasts, deep-dive YouTube breakdowns, newsletters from serious professionals and journalists, and LLMs that can act like a personal tutor for almost any skill.

Same algorithms. Same platforms.
Two totally different outcomes:

- Passive addiction → manipulated mush.
- Intentional curation → a “bionic” brain and unfair advantage at work.

If you’re serious about your career in 2026, treat your feed like your diet:
- Unfollow accounts that make you angry but not smarter.
- Follow people and outlets that challenge how you think, not just how you feel.
- Pick one “anchor” news source you actually trust and read it deeply.
- Use AI tools as a thinking partner, not a replacement for thinking.

Most people will keep letting algorithms decide what goes into their head.

The outliers will build a cleaner “information stack” and quietly lap everyone else over the next few years.

Some people are much more bold in sending cold emails than I think I will ever be.

graphical user interface, text, application

Its the LAST DAY - The Bonus Day of the Sales and BD Summit!!!

Kicking off with Laurie Guillodo with a predictable Client Acuisition System 

Fan favorite Julian D'Angelo is back! 

Steve Gipson and Emily Blattel with the subtle shifts that can change results

Rebekah Brown Sharing the playbook for top recruiters

CJ Tufano with live BD walkthroughs 

and Tom Rauch showing you how to build your own AI tools that actually close deals.

Dont miss out on this last day!

On paper,
most recruiters sound exactly the same.

• Same resumes
• Same client pitches
• Same “relationship-driven” language

Different logos.
Same message.

And AI is about to expose that.

That hit me hard during this conversation.

Because most recruiters aren’t bad at what they do.
They’re just invisible.

Not because they don’t care.
Not because they don’t work hard.

But because the way they describe their value
sounds exactly like everyone else.

And AI doesn’t care who said it first.

In this episode sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform, Jacob Stripling helped me put words to something I’ve felt for a while:

Speed used to be the advantage.
Now it’s the baseline.

Anyone can move fast.
Anyone can source.
Anyone can automate.

The only real advantage left is depth.

We talked about a simple framework that explains why:

Some recruiters talk about relationships.
Others prove them.

Some say culture matters.
Others make decisions that cost them something.

When you move past what you say…
past what you claim to value…

and into what you’re willing to sacrifice —

That’s where differentiation actually lives.

That’s the tier AI can’t touch.

This episode isn’t about tools.

It’s about why transactional recruiting is breaking — and what replaces it.
🎧 How Elite Recruiters Win in the Age of AI (The 4-Tier Differentiation Framework)

If you’ve ever felt like:

“I’m doing the right things… but still blending in”

This conversation will hit home.

Curious — what do you think actually separates great recruiters right now?

Also don't forget to sign up for the 30 Day BD Challenge in The Elite Recruiter Community.  Kicks off Feb 9th.

Mike Anderson shares a bold, human-first LinkedIn strategy, using voice notes to cut through AI, spam, and cold outreach to win new clients.

Tune in to the latest episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform!
Now streaming on all podcast platforms! Links are in the comments!

There are recruiter trainers.
And then there’s the Godfather.

Before LinkedIn.
Before AI sourcing tools.
Before “growth hacks.”

There was Steve Finkel

The man who trained the trainers.
The frameworks behind thousands of top billers.
The closing psychology most recruiters think they know… but don’t.

For decades, his systems have quietly powered search firms doing millions in revenue.

And now…

Both full YouTube episodes are live.

Part 1: Why most recruiters lose offers (and don’t even realize it).
Part 2: The advanced closing frameworks from his latest book Closing For Recruiters.

If you’ve ever:
• Lost a deal at the finish line
• Stalled at a 70–75% acceptance rate
• Felt like you’re “doing everything right” but something is missing

This is the missing piece.

AI can source.
Internal teams can screen.

But closing?

That’s still the moat.

And Steve breaks down:
 – The College Professor Close
 – Fear-of-Change psychology
 – How elite recruiters add 30–50% more billing
 – Why most recruiters train on the wrong parts of the job

I’ve interviewed a lot of heavy hitters on The Elite Recruiter Podcast.
This one is foundational.

If you’re serious about becoming a rainmaker instead of a resume pusher…

The episodes are finally live on YouTube.

Drop “CLOSE” below and I’ll send you the link.
(Or you can find the links below)

Let’s make this your biggest billing year yet.

Thank you Atlas - the Recruitment Platform and Recruiters Websites for helping make this episode possible.

Claude Code or Loveable will be to replace all your SaaS tools… says every single post right now. 

Anyone else go down the rabbit hole?

Not going lie.  

This stuff is insane.   

But it’s good for simple stuff at the moment.  

You’ll spend more time and money (time is money) fighting it right now than buying a SaaS product.

It’s still fun though. 

Back to my late nights telling Claude it’s broke and I don’t have a clue how to fix it.

AI agents have now built a platform to hire humans in the real world to do the things the AI agents can't do...  

This Claudbot/Moltbot/ Whateverbot story just keeps getting crazier... 

The AI Agents have created an actual recruiting company...

We start at 3pm ET today.

The 30-Day BD Challenge inside the Elite Recruiter Community is officially kicking off — and if you’ve been meaning to level up your business development, this is your moment.

👉 2 tracks (build or scale)
👉 Daily structure and weekly check-ins
👉 A private community that keeps you moving
👉Focused on the habits of the work that you need to win

If you’ve been letting BD slide...

Or if the summit got your wheels turning and you’re ready to execute...
This is for you.

It’s free for community members.

You can cancel anytime, just DM me in the group.

We go live at 3pm ET.

Let’s get to work. 👊

[Link to join the Elite Recruiter Community below]

Jacob Stripling explains that the real value of great recruiters lies in genuine care, helping candidates recognize the “gold mine” of value they already have but can’t yet see.

Tune in to the latest episode of The Elite Recruiter Podcast, sponsored by Atlas - the Recruitment Platform!
Now streaming on all podcast platforms! Links are in the comments!

Digital Marketing and Technology Recruiter @ Knak Digital | Fractional Talent Acquisition | Hitting Hiring Roadblocks? I can help 🙋🏻‍♀️ Job Search Advisor & Myth Debunker | Baltimore & D.C. 🔊 (Riv-Knack)

Are you struggling to hire tech and marketing talent to keep up with your organization’s growth?

Maybe your internal applications are jammed with tons of inbound resumes, but very few that are actually on target. Meanwhile, your team is buried, deliverables are slipping, and the right roles stay open way too long.

That’s where I come in.

I’m Kelli Hrivnak, a Marketing & Tech Recruiter, who helps hypergrowth companies fill critical roles faster than traditional methods.  For nearly two decades, I've been a trusted ally to small to midmarket businesses in DC, Virginia, and Maryland, building teams that boost revenue, innovation, and collaborative success.  

My background in hospitality and outside sales taught me the art of relationship building and high-pressure, often intense, decision-making skills that translated to the recruiting world.  That experience shaped how I recruit.

Hiring Hurdles Impacting my Clients:

✔️ Speed to hire.   A vacant position is slowing down your project deliverables and product development.
✔️ Hiring surge and internal recruitment/TA team is swamped.
✔️ Burned by past mis-hires and unsuccessful track record of hiring
✔️ No time to review resumes or screen candidates thoroughly.
✔️ Job Postings that result in 100's of applicants with no time to review
✔️ Underlying need to replace underperformers, confidentially
✔️ Skills gap and the relentless competition for the same pool of talent

Knak Digital Solutions:

Placement & Sourcing:
✔️ 30,000+ vetted tech and marketing contacts in our proprietary database
✔️ 100% dedication to networking, sourcing, and interviewing for faster fill times
✔️ Tailored recruiting approach that fits your team’s culture
✔️ Project-based consultants when you don't need full-time specialists

Embedded Recruiting Support:
✔️ On-demand, flexible recruiting help that scales with your needs
✔️ Extra capacity during hiring spikes so your team doesn’t get overloaded
✔️ Alternative model to project-based searches, especially when hiring 3 or more roles.

Talent Consulting:
✔️ Discreet searches for underperformers, leadership changes, and succession planning
✔️ Employer brand support to improve candidate attraction
✔️ Market intel on competitors, salary trends, and talent movement

Ready to break through your hiring bottlenecks?  Let's start a conversation. 

📧 Email: kelli@Knakdigital.com

Search job listings here ▶ https://jobs.crelate.com/portal/knakdigital

Kelli Hrivnak

Recruiting can often be a thankless career.

I mean, there’s an entire Reddit sub dedicated to it #recruitinghell

Kudos to the real ones out here who prioritize candidate experience.  This will continue to be the differentiator, especially as those human communication skills are top value.

If you’ve worked with a stellar recruiter, let them know.  Happy Friday 🎉

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

Another meaningful session volunteering with the Arc of Frederick last week.

One program member came back this time with a visual resume, a huge improvement from our last session.

I also worked with someone new who's pursuing a mechanic position. He moved smoothly through most interview questions, paused on one that caught him off guard, and we skipped ahead. After answering the next question, he circled back to address the skipped one.

This is actually good interview practice for anyone. Taking a sec (or two) to think is ok. If you need more time to process a question, embrace the pause. (This is exactly why time accommodations exist in some interview settings.)

During our conversation afterward, he mentioned working on cars as a hobby.  This is exactly when hobbies ARE relevant.  If any side projects translate to the target job, these experiences are well worth talking about.

If you’re curious about getting involved with the Arc of Frederick or supporting adults with developmental disabilities, I’ll drop the link below.

A few resume tips I keep repeating lately, so I’m just going to put them here. 

1️⃣ Add a company descriptor if the brand isn’t widely known.

Example:   Strategist, XYZ Company (MarTech Series B startup, ~$15M ARR, ~75 employees)

2️⃣ AI. Yes, I know. Barf.   But modern resumes should be showing how you are integrating AI into your day-to-day workflows, research, productivity, etc.  This can also include ethical guardrails, workshops, and training.

 3️⃣Don’t be humble if you’re not under an NDA.   Name the product you built, the campaigns you supported.  If you are a consultant, can you list client/customer work specifically?  These fine details show scope and depth, plus some logos can trigger that industry alignment/appeal.

Any resume questions?  I'm stuck on a flight for the next three hours.  Let it rip.

Feels relevant on this Friday the 13th.

Looking at the handful of people who just landed job offers, I can say they earned those roles because they were the best candidates in the pool.  They crushed their assignments in the interview, prepped for those calls, and asked the right questions when it came to an offer.

No doubt, luck comes into play here and there.  Referrals being one.  But luck can only get you so far.

Sunday job search tips.....

1️⃣ If the role is hybrid, your location matters.

If you’re applying from out of state and the resume says nothing about relocation, that's going to be a rejection from me. I will not be reaching out to everyone individually to clarify that they understand the in-office requirements. 

If you are relocating, define this in the resume. If you’re self-funding the move, even better. In high-supply roles, companies are not stretching on geography unless they have to.

2️⃣ All this "reverse recruiting" talk.  Take a tip out of what should be their playbook and track your search.  A simple spreadsheet with company, role, date applied, and traction.

PS. You know what signals organized? When a candidate immediately references their job search data during a screen.

3️⃣ Get clear on your positioning.  I hear people considering a few job tracks.
 “I could do Customer Success or Account Executive.”

Okay. But can you back that up? Revenue growth. Sales targets. Expansion metrics. Implementation ownership. Relationship management.  Audit your tasks and outcomes first, then engineer if those can be proof to your target job tracks.

Would you pay someone to find you a job?

I’ve been approached numerous times in the past by job seekers in my networking, offering that they would pay me a fee to find them a job . Aka,  the recently coined “reverse recruiting” services.

For the record, I do NOT offer this.  I'll get into why...

But the WSJ article caught my eye this week, covering job seekers paying to be “recruited” because the market feels brutal right now.

One platform mentioned claims access to students from 20 “top-ranked” universities along with partnerships with 2,000+ companies. I have not personally seen this platform show up in real hiring workflows, and I have to wonder how engaged those hiring teams actually are in reviewing these "referrals."

If you are considering any reverse recruiting or apply-on-your-behalf service, ask these questions first:

🔹 What exact actions are they taking on my behalf?
 🔹Am I reviewing and approving every submission, or am I trusting them blindly?
 🔹 How are they answering open-ended questions about my background, gaps, or career moves?
 🔹Do they understand my experience well enough to actually market me?
🔹 Will I get a full report of where they applied, when, and the status of each role?

The core reason I would never take this on is that I would never want to guarantee that I could lock down a job for anyone, as market demand and how one interviews is beyond my control.  I encourage anyone to understand the mechanics and KPI's behind any service representing you to employers.

Scammers will come out of the woodwork, especially when the job market pendulum has swung in their favor.

Curious to hear of anyone's experience with these type of services?

Open article: Job Hunters Are So Desperate That They’re Paying to Get Recruited by wsj.com

Job Hunters Are So Desperate That They’re Paying to Get Recruited

Mark Cuban says SAAS is dead.  

Instead, hello "service as a software."

I get the take.  On every social platform I am on, I read about people spinning up apps with Claude Code, Replit, or Lovable.  Sometimes, within a matter of hours.  

In theory, everyone can be their own product managers now.  Problem solvers are everywhere.

But I'm just not convinced we are all problem understanders.  Let me give an example near and dear to my little recruiter heart:  The ATS.

There are dozens and dozens of applicant tracking systems. All have their nuances, with different audiences like Enterprise, SMB. Internal TA or Agency.  What's rarer is finding a recruiter who uses one and adores one platform.

🔸Business development workflows are clunky
🔸Tagging and rediscovering talent is complicated
🔸Reporting dashboards aren't tracking the data you want.
🔸The UX is terrible.

And yet, new ATS tools continue to ship and recruitment teams continue to demo them, hoping to discover the one that understands how *that* team moves through their day.

The barrier to building software has crumbled.  The barrier to diagnosing and recognizing the legitimate pain point has not.  

Duplicating an existing product may decrease subscription services for some businesses, but for new custom software--there isn't a guarantee for a product-market fit. 

I'm also not even addressing the maintenance and scaling piece of it... 

Curious to hear everyone else's thoughts here.  Is accessibility really the game changer here?

AI DOES need us.

Who caught RentAHuman.AI?

Alexander Liteplo launched the site this past Monday, a platform where AI agents can rent out humans to complete tasks they aren't able to do.

Within 48 hours, the platform had 73K rentable "meatwads."

What type of tasks are outsourced to humans?

🔹Pick up a package
🔹Attend a meeting
🔹Verify a physical location
🔹Exist anywhere outside a browser

A random bounty:  Post a photo of yourself holding a sign reading “AN AI PAID ME TO HOLD THIS SIGN.”

Humans are paid out through crypto.

Not sure how legit it really is with tons of tasks still open with dozens of "bids."   It's giving Black Mirror.

I'll drop the link below.

"You have a great read on people and the experience we look for.”

A client recently gave this feedback after we wrapped up a successful search.

Just another reminder that a talent advisor is not just a keyword-matching, 7-second resume scanning, doesn't know what experience they are screening for gatekeepers.

Sourcing and recruiting is not JUST pattern recognition.

It's understanding context and nuance behind the words on a resume or LinkedIn profile.  Because a job title at one company does not automatically translate to the same scope or influence at another.

Different team structures.  Different resources.  Different technical expectations.

Can a tech tool pick up those reads and find full alignment?  #nah

I'm up for the debate.  Change my mind.

Returning from a week semi off the grid.

Watched a Super Bowl with targeted ads for Alka-Seltzer and Meneparol Plus as opposed to the Levi's, Google, and Lays ads here in the States.  A different experience to say the least....

The only AI conversation I overheard was a man saying he just discovered ChatGPT last month and saying “what a game changer it is.” 

Huge thank you to a client partner who gave me grace to take a beach bum video call.

Playing catch up now--please hit me up if I missed your DM or email.

(Good news is that it looks like it may reach over 50+ degrees this weekend and finally melt the snow away).

taplio

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